It took six seasons, however Riverdale has lastly gone full supernatural horror. The CW’s five-episode Riverdale occasion, “Rivervale,” takes viewers to an alternate universe the place nothing is because it appears and no person is protected. Solely two episodes in, Rivervale has already seen Pagan rituals, ghostly hauntings, and some stunning character deaths. Moreover, the occasion is rife with references to horror motion pictures and reveals, together with The Twilight Zone and Midsommar. Horror followers who tuned in to Riverdale Season 6 Episode 2 may need acknowledged a couple of homages to basic ghost tales.
[Spoiler alert: The following story contains spoilers for Riverdale Season 6 Episode 2, “Chapter Ninety-Seven: Ghost Stories.”]
La Llorona is an actual legend seen in horror motion pictures
Probably the most obvious horror reference in episode 2 is La Llorona, a spirit identified for drowning youngsters. In Riverdale, La Llorona emerges from Sweetwater River to kill the kids of Rivervale. By means of a séance, Toni (Vanessa Morgan), Cheryl (Madelaine Petsch), and Betty (Lili Reinhart) study that La Llorona is the ghost of a maternity nurse. Years in the past, Rivervale residents blamed the nurse for the excessive toddler mortality charge, so that they drowned her in the river. Nevertheless, the townspeople wrongly accused her.
La Llorona is a real-life Latin American legend. In accordance with one model of the folktale, the spirit of La Llorona belonged to a lady named Maria. She had two sons together with her husband, however turned jealous when he returned from fixed touring to solely spend time with the children.
Finally, Maria’s husband left her for a brand new household. In a match of rage, she drowned her sons in a river. Then, realizing what she had performed, she took her personal life. The legend states that ever since, La Llorona has roamed waterfront areas, weeping for her misplaced youngsters.
La Llorona has grow to be the topic of horror movies, with the latest being 2019’s The Curse of La Llorona.
Reggie’s automotive in ‘Riverdale’ Season 6 could also be an homage to the 1983 horror film ‘Christine’
As a method to deal with his father’s sickness, Reggie (Charles Melton) buys a muscle automotive like he had in highschool and begins to relive his glory days. He begins hooking up together with his girlfriend, Veronica (Camila Mendes), in the automotive, and it quickly turns right into a fantasy for Reggie. He begins spending extra time in the automotive, which he names “Bella,” than he does with Veronica, and he or she turns into jealous.
Finally, Veronica discovers that “Bella” is a reference to a trainer, Isabella, with whom she believes Reggie had a relationship in highschool. She destroys the automotive in an act of jealousy. Nevertheless, Reggie denies something greater than a friendship with Isabella, explaining that the trainer supported him via his father’s abuse.
Bella seems to be a reference to Stephen King’s Christine, which obtained a John Carpenter movie adaptation in 1983. The novel/movie adopted a teen named Arnie who purchased a automotive, named Christine, with a persona of its personal. Christine had a possessive nature that affected Arnie and have become lethal for his associates.
After all, Riverdale doesn’t take issues fairly as far. It additionally flips the state of affairs to make Veronica the jealous one, however the homage appears clear.
Jughead and Tabitha’s haunted condominium may reference ‘The Shining’
With Jughead’s (Cole Sprouse) writing profession, Riverdale couldn’t go up a possibility to reference The Shining. Season 6 episode 2 sees Jughead and Tabitha (Erinn Westbrook) uncover a hidden room in their condominium, which Jughead decides to make use of as a writing nook. Then, he and Tabitha study a pair who lived there beforehand earlier than committing a murder-suicide. Jughead feels impressed by the story and turns it into the topic of his new ebook.
The ghosts of the couple take over the condominium, possessing Jughead and turning Tabitha in opposition to him. She has a dream the place she hits Jughead over the top with a hammer, and her dream practically comes true later. Nevertheless, they overcome the spirits.
Though rather less apparent, Jughead’s writing in a haunted room appears to reference Jack Torrance and his resort in The Shining. Moreover, his bickering with Tabitha — and her near-incident with the hammer — appear to reflect Wendy Torrance’s makes an attempt to take down Jack with a baseball bat when he goes on a homicidal rage.
Tune in to Riverdale Season 6’s “Rivervale” occasion on Tuesday nights at 9 p.m. ET on The CW.
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